Uncle T’s been a little busy the past couple weeks and apologizes for the lack of posts. It doesn’t help that he had to spend three times as long with the “Wrecktrospective” as he would have with one single CD and it doesn’t help that he had to listen to all three discs in his car as his home stereo didn’t get back in commission till the other day. But in the words of Arnold Schwarzenegger “stop whining!”. (Holy crap my spell check just corrected me on “Schwarzenegger”… what kind of lunatics include the correct spelling of the Terminator’s last name in their home office program???)
Let me start by saying that there are a lot of albums over the years that have come out on Fat Wreck Chords that I love and still listen to. NOFX’s “Longest Line EP”, Swingin’ Utters “Juvenile Product of the Working Class”, American Steel “Destroy Their Future”, Face To Face “Don’t Turn Away”, and more recently the new Teenage Bottlerocket and Dead To Me albums. Fat has definitely put out some great punk albums over the years. There’s no disputing this. That being said they’ve put out an overloaded septic tank worth of crap too. All of this and all points in between are represented on the Wrecktrospective. 88 songs in all broken down into 3 discs (fattest hits, demos, and singles club).
The liner notes are basically Fat Mike talking about how the label was a labor of love and how it took many years before he turned a profit, and blah blah blah I’m so punk blah blah. Then there’s a bunch of quotes from bands that are/were on the label about how Mike came to sign them. Strung Out for example got signed after laying down carpet in Mike’s house. That actually makes a lot of sense to me. I’d be willing to bet that Lagwagon are professional painters and 88 Fingers Louie own and operate a roofing company in their spare time. Jesus there are some horrible bands on this label: No Use For a Name (They have one decent song and it’s on here), Real McKenzies (I seriously remember thinking they were a joke band when I first heard them, somehow a mockery of the Dropkick Murphys or some such.), Goober Patrol (bad name, worse band), Rise Against and Against Me (People will argue with me that they are both great bands. People need to get out more), Mad Caddies (Marrying the sounds of ragtime and ska was not only a bad idea it’s quite possibly the worst idea ever), The Vandals and The Descendents (two bands that ignored George Costanza and refused to go out on a high note), Hi Standard, Wizo, Frenzal Rhomb, Zero Down, and Enemy You (Seriously who the fuck listens to these bands? It’s like a who’s that of 3rd stage Warped Tour acts).
Alright, alright I’ll stop bitching. There’s a bunch of other bands on here that make this comp worth buying. I mean, it’s a comp. It’s bound to have some garbage on it. And in Fat Wreck Chords’ defense I can’t think of one label that is solely comprised of amazing bands. And I gave it some serious thought before making that statement. Most of the songs on the Fattest Hits disc that I like I already own so that was kinda a bust. NOFXs Separation of Church and Skate, Face to Faces You’ve Done Nothing, Swingin Utters Windspitting Punk (Ask P about when we saw them play this in LA and fell hard on our asses during this song), Avail Black And Red, and Dillinger Four AMERICASPREMIEREFAITHBASEDINITIATIVE. The Demos Disc is alright I suppose. My complaint with it is that most of the songs on it sound similar to the originals. Personally, I like demos that are a little raw and give a different spin on a song I already know and love. There’s not much of that here. Some of the demos are pretty damn polished already. The Loved Ones, American Steel, Avail, and Swingin’ Utters manage to make it all somehow worthwhile. And finally the last disc comprises the entirety of the Fat Club 7” Series. Highlights include American Steel (again), Swingin Utters (and again), The Lawrence Arms (who I dig but not as much as most everyone else it would seem), and MXPX (Who I’m embarrassed to admit I dig. Not because they’re a pop band either, but because they started on a Christian label.).
So yeah if you have $17 bucks and think getting 88 songs for it is a good buy, you know, go for it I guess. There are worse ways to spend your money. Besides, Mike needs the money. He’s putting in a new bathroom and there’s not many bands out there that moonlight as plumbers for him to sign.
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